Patient-centered care emphasizes the importance of respecting individual patient values and preferences in healthcare decisions, as defined by the Institute of Medicine. It involves ensuring effective coordination of care, providing necessary information and education, addressing physical comfort, and offering emotional support to reduce anxiety. Additionally, it focuses on continuity in care after discharge and improving accessibility to healthcare services.

1. Patient-centered care is the practice of caring for
patients (and their families) in ways that are
meaningful and valuable to the individual patient.
The IOM (Institute of Medicine) defines patient-
centered care as: “Providing care that is respectful of,
and responsive to, individual patient preferences,
needs and values, and ensuring that patient values
guide all clinical decisions.”
Patient-centered care

2. Overview of Picker’s Eight Principles of Patient Centered Care

3. 1. Respect for patients’
values, preferences and
expressed needs
Involve patients in decision-
making, recognizing they
are individuals with their
own unique values and
preferences. Treat patients
with dignity, respect and
sensitivity to his/her cultural
values and autonomy.

4. 2. Coordination and integration of care
During focus groups, patients expressed
feeling vulnerable and powerless in the face
of illness. Proper coordination of care can
alleviate those feelings. Patients identified
three areas in which care coordination can
reduce feelings of vulnerability:
•Coordination of clinical care
•Coordination of ancillary and support
services
•Coordination of front-line patient care

5. 3. Information and education
In interviews, patients expressed their
worries that they were not being completely
informed about their condition or
prognosis. To counter this fear, hospitals can
focus on three kinds of communication:
•Information on clinical status, progress and
prognosis
•Information on processes of care
•Information to facilitate autonomy, self-care
and health promotion

6. 4. Physical comfort
The level of physical comfort patients
report has a significant impact on their
experience. Three areas were reported
as particularly important to patients:
•Pain management
•Assistance with activities and daily living
needs
•Hospital surroundings and environment

7. 5. Emotional support and alleviation of
fear and anxiety
Fear and anxiety associated with illness can
be as debilitating as the physical effects.
Caregivers should pay particular attention
to:
•Anxiety over physical status, treatment and
prognosis
•Anxiety over the impact of the illness on
themselves and family
•Anxiety over the financial impact of illness

8. 7. Continuity and transition
Patients expressed concern about their ability to
care for themselves after discharge. Meeting
patient needs in this area requires the following:
•Understandable, detailed information regarding
medications, physical limitations, dietary needs,
etc.
•Coordinate and plan ongoing treatment and
services after discharge
•Provide information regarding access to clinical,
social, physical and financial support on a
continuing basis.

9. 8. Access to care
Patients need to know they can access care when it is
needed. Focusing mainly on ambulatory care, the following
areas were of importance to the patient:
•Access to the location of hospitals, clinics and physician
offices
•Availability of transportation
•Ease of scheduling appointments
•Availability of appointments when needed
•Accessibility to specialists or specialty services when a
referral is made
•Clear instructions provided on when and how to get
referrals.

10. THANK
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